July 3, 2009 - The Austin Chronicle

P0STMARKSCONTINUED FROM P.7SENSATIONALIST RHETORIC AND SCARE TACTICSDear Editor,While Marc Savlov’s article on crime Downtown is a worthysubject and something that everyone should be aware of, whatis with the sensationalist rhetoric and scare tactics throughoutthe article [“Crime and the City Solution” Music, June 26]? MarcSavlov and business owners characterize Sixth and Red River likeit’s a death trap waiting to steal your wallet and eat your children,when that just isn’t the case. Buried deep within the accounts oframpant drug dealing and violence is the statistic that crime isdown 14%, so why the tagline “Murder, shootings, and crack dealerson every corner”? Of course there’s crime Downtown, but isthis kind of language really necessary?Nick HenniesSENSATIONALISTIC COVER!Dear Editor,Regarding your cover story “Crime and the City Solution” [Music,June 26]: Could your cover be more sensationalistic? Blood splatteron a chalk-mark outline of a guitar? Because of violence in anarea with dozens of bars, the host of hundreds of thousands ofvisitors and locals yearly? Do you know the violent crime rates inNew Orleans’ French Quarter? Memphis’ Beale Street? Those aretourist destinations with a lot more trouble than we have.Savlov’s “interview” with Police Chief Art Acevedo was a candycoveredsoft pitch that smelled of Glade Lilac Spring. I thoughtI had my face shoved into Grandma’s armpit while reading it.Downtown violent crime is down 14% this year, Acevedo says, and“Our Downtown is one of the safest downtowns in the country.”So much for your blood-splattered chalk outline and reactionarytexts of “frequently bloody” and “potentially deadly.” Driving I-35is deadlier than having a beer on Sixth at midnight. Where’s yourscary cover art for that?Still, the “reporting” gets better. Savlov lets Acevedo whine thathe needs 50 more police officers who will dress like cops andscatter the dealers and thugs before they walk or ride around thecorner. Yeah … that’s working so well now.I work less than a block away from McCreight’s business andoften see a dozen cops all hanging out on that corner wherecrack and crime is dispensed. When the cops leave, the thugscome back. Why doesn’t Acevedo simply put some of the copshe already has in street clothes so they aren’t so neon-brightobvious to the criminals? Then they’ll get some bad guys.Walking more cops around in cop uniforms is like turning on thelight in a room filled with roaches.Austin doesn’t need more cops. The cops we have need to beutilized properly.Trent RekerFINDS MOSER’S COMMENTS RACISTDear Editor,“[T]he … conversation circles around to how a young Koreanwoman [BettySoo] born of immigrant parents makes all-Americanmusic” [“A Girl Named Soo,” Music, June 19]. Maybe it’s becauseshe was born in America and grew up in a Houston suburb? Jeez,Margaret, could you try to be a little more racist?Yours,Alan McKendreeDOES ANYONE LIKE THIS PLAN?Dear Editor,Re: “Muny Isn’t Part of UT’s Grand Plans” [News, June 26]:Is there anyone other than the Board of Regents or Cooper,Robertson & Partners that likes this plan? Maybe I’m a bitbiased being a cranky graduate student in integrative biology,but I don’t think this plan makes sense for anyone. For onething, I recall them talking about the giant traffic problem onLake Austin being an issue. How the hell is a large developmentgoing to help this? In general, why is it that teaching andresearch resources always seem to get the short end of thestick? I might be misinformed, but I thought that the point of auniversity was for learning, not making a profit. Or do we needto sell off the Brackenridge Tract to pay for more law firms tocome in, take recommendations, completely ignore said recommendations,and do whatever the hell the regents wanted to doin the first place? I wish I could hire ass-kissers from N.Y. for allmy harebrained ideas.Ginnie MorrisonMORE TABLOID THAN ALTERNATIVEDear Editor,I read Marc Savlov’s June 26 article “Crime and the City Solution”[Music] with much disappointment. The author failed to ask anyof the challenging questions that might interrogate the dominantassumptions about crime, race, class, drug addiction, and criminalityand maybe bring us a step closer to some real solutions. Instead, hesimply reiterated and reinforced all the overstated and underscrutinizedassumptions and stereotypes our society has about crime andin a particularly sensational and fearmongering way. Was the authorseeking syndication at Fox News or the New York Post?After briefly acknowledging that, despite some high-profileincidents recently, Downtown crime has declined significantly, thearticle continues on its pseudo-apocalyptic narrative of violenceand lost city revenue before falling off on a tangent about urbanplanning. If the Chronicle hopes to remain an “alternative” weekly,instead of just a tabloid, it might consider asking some moredifficult questions, such as: What causes crime? (Please don’tsay broken glass or dirty alleys.) What prevents crime, insteadof just covering it up or pushing it to a part of town that mattersless to the city’s power brokers? What causes drug addictionand homelessness? What cures them? Do prisons fix theseproblems? Why are people blaming evacuees from New Orleans?Why did people have to evacuate New Orleans in the first place?Why can’t they go back to New Orleans? Or maybe, why are weso resistant to asking these question in the first place?Sincerely,James ClarkCONTINUED ON P.10SALEJuly 2 - 5(FOUR DAYS ONLY)Whole Earth Provision Co.2410 San Antonio Street, 478-15771014 North Lamar, 476-1414South Lamar @ Westgate, 899-0992www.WholeEarthProvision.com8 T H E A U S T I N C H R O N I C L E JULY 3, 2009 a u s t i n c h r o n i c l e . c o mJULY 4 THHOT SPECIALS40%OFF•all dresses •all Flax•all shorts - men’s/women’s•all Patagonia ® sportswearmen’s/womens•all Keen shoes and sandals•all Salomon shoes and boots•all Haiku bagsIN STOCK ONLY40% DISCOUNTON FULL PRICE ITEMS ONLY*check local stores for other (unadvertised) specialsFLOYD’SBARBERSHOPOpen 7 days a weekNow 2 great locations:North - 10515 N. Mopac338.8866South - 5601 Brodie Lane892-5550SHAVESCOLORCUTSWWW.FLOYDSBARBERSHOP.COM